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Anyone have any better recipes? Also, anyone have any ideas for a lower-carb replacement for the agave nectar? Granted, this is reasonable as is, but if there's something just as good w/less of a calorie hit, why not go w/it?

I'm not adverse to using stevia, btw, but I don't know how it will react in something like this.

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Normally, I'm completely strict. But I love to cook, and I love to cook dessert (even though nowadays it's mostly for other people), and I have to say, I'd just make a carrot cake, enjoy it, and have a small slice. However, if you really want to be primal and spread the good news via some food, here's my advice.

Those recipes on Elana's pantry are honestly worse for you than normal carrot cake probably. Grapeseed oil is a *huge* bomb of Omega-6 fats, and agave nectar is just the favorite of the raw food crowd, but I don't personally see how extracting that from an agave plant is any different from refining sugar from beets or sugarcane. And it's 90% fructose, which means it's even worse for insulin resistance, fatty liver disease, etc. It's essentially twice as bad for you as HFCS.

Assuming you're willing to use erythritol, as Diana pointed out, try adapting this recipe to be carrot cake and full sized:

The coconut frosting could stand in for cream cheese frosting, or you could do a cream cheese frosting with erythritol or something. Just add in the cinnamon and nutmeg, shredded carrots, and raisins and walnuts (if you like those in carrot cake..I don't).

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i am more of a cook by nature but part of the trick to baking is understanding that i does require a certain amount of chemistry. you can't just substitute a dry ingredient for a wet one, etc. and sugar often does more than just sweeten. that being said, i think elana has some great recipes and she does a lot of the experimenting for us. but i don't agree with her [what i would say is] excessive use of agave. i would make her recipe with 2 subs. instead of grapeseed oil, why not use coconut oil [melt it first]? heck, you could even use butter for that matter. the important part is to include that amount of fat. they will all serve the same purpose.

second, i would sub the 1/2 cup of agave for 1/4 cup applesauce [this adds some sweetness and liquid] and 1/4 cup of either pure maple syrup [my preference] or unpasteurized honey. this will give you less sweetness and calories but should maintain the integrity of the recipe as a baked good.

as to the frosting....stick with the cream. include the cream cheese if you do dairy but get the best quality, full fat, organic stuff you can. again, with the agave, it is simple to sub in either maple syrup or honey. you'll still take a "hit" but at least it's primal. you could also try just a 1/4 cup to start and go from there. you could also just whip up some awesome quality heavy cream or buy creme fraiche and top each slice with that.

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Yeah, I used Xylitol up until recently(my favorite so far), but I know it's a sugar alcohol (your body actually produces the stuff), but if you consume too much, like any sugar alcohol, you will have to run to the restroom a lot!

I really like the apple sauce and Maple Syrup idea. That's what I generally use and you get the same 'sweetness'.

Once I hit my maintenance (20 more lbs to go!) then I think the Maple Syrup and Applesauce combo will be best.

First if you don't have carrot juice and pulp, juice the carrots and get that part ready. Next put the almonds and dates in a food processor and grind fine, until it forms a ball. Put it in a bowl with the carrot juice, carrot pulp, spices, zests, lemon juice and grated carrot. Stir until thoroughly mixed. Add the raisins and walnuts or coconut. This is your carrot cake. Form a circle or square or shape of choice on the plate.

Icing

3/4c cashews (soaked)

2 dates (soaked)

1 orange (juiced)

1t orange zest

1-2T lemon juice

1/4 vanilla bean

Put all of these things in a food processor until smooth and creamy. Check to see if it tastes like heaven, if it does, move on. If it doesn't add more dates, more lemon, more cashews, whatever. When it's yummy, dump it on the cake. As for decoration use strawberries, raspberries, coconut, flowers, zest, spices you name it!"

I once made chocolate raw cupcakes using nuts and dates and you wouldn't even think it was raw. Dates add lots of natural sugar (not the best for you, but it's better than HFCS.)

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@Sammy: so substituting any comparable fat for grapeseed oil would work ok? I remember when I used to make conventional carrot cake, I would sub in olive oil for vegetable oil. I want to make the cupcake recipe (in a another thread) for a friend's upcoming birthday, but really don't want to use grapeseed oil. Would olive or coconut oil be fine?

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Olive oil would be an unwelcome flavor in a carrot cake, I think. Coconut oil would be a good choice. Or butter, if you eat dairy. If the recipe is too solid with a more solid fat, just add a little water (commonly done when subbing shortening or lard for butter in recipes).

Oil doesn't belong in cake, or any baked goods, really. The whole paradigm of 'pour vegetable oil and an egg into this boxed cake mix' is just because of the same fear of 'artery clogging saturated fat' and belief that the more polyunsaturates the better.

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Don't forget, the sea salt must be Celtic.....sheeesh. How do people get to think that way?

As Nick says, agave nectar and grapeseed oils are just the foo foo's of the day. I'd certainly go for coconut instead of grapeseed in the oil department.

As to sweetener, why not stevia? I honestly don't know if it bakes or can be used, so my question truly is a "Why not?" Or brown rice syrup? VERY low glycemic load for a sweetener. A touch of glucose, mostly slow to digest maltose, and the rest complex carbs.

Before I even was doing PB I got very interested in sweeteners, especially the syrup kind. Especially with the influence of old fashioned corn syrup here in the south. Perhaps when in that 20% "Off" time you may want or need a bit of shugga. Here are a few snippets I found out:

Corn Syrup: Old fashioned, been around over 100 years, is glucose. In the rest of the world it is called, um, glucose syrup. Karo has additives, and some of the off brands have HFCS!

Alaga syrup is regional, it is corn syrup and (sugar)cane syrup. Rather tasty.

Cane syrup is sucrose, just like sugar.

Molasses is not, as some people think, boiled down cane sugar. It is left over after extracting the sucrose. The blackstrap so commonly available is the most concentrated, least palatable.

Brown rice syrup, see above. I think the flavor would do well in carrot cake. It like its flavor very much.

Honey, almost as much glucose and fructose. I report, you decide.

No sugar is a poison in and of itself. The PB beloved veggies have some sugars. It's a matter of how much, what kind, your metabolism. The other day I was working real hard and sagging, so I ate a spoonful of honey. Got me through. That 38% of a tablespoon that is fructose wasn't going to kill me. And it wouldn't effect my insulin level.

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Don't forget, the sea salt must be Celtic.....sheeesh. How do people get to think that way?

As Nick says, agave nectar and grapeseed oils are just the foo foo's of the day. I'd certainly go for coconut instead of grapeseed in the oil department.

As to sweetener, why not stevia? I honestly don't know if it bakes or can be used, so my question truly is a "Why not?" Or brown rice syrup? VERY low glycemic load for a sweetener. A touch of glucose, mostly slow to digest maltose, and the rest complex carbs.

Before I even was doing PB I got very interested in sweeteners, especially the syrup kind. Especially with the influence of old fashioned corn syrup here in the south. Perhaps when in that 20% "Off" time you may want or need a bit of shugga. Here are a few snippets I found out:

Corn Syrup: Old fashioned, been around over 100 years, is glucose. In the rest of the world it is called, um, glucose syrup. Karo has additives, and some of the off brands have HFCS!

Alaga syrup is regional, it is corn syrup and (sugar)cane syrup. Rather tasty.

Cane syrup is sucrose, just like sugar.

Molasses is not, as some people think, boiled down cane sugar. It is left over after extracting the sucrose. The blackstrap so commonly available is the most concentrated, least palatable.

Brown rice syrup, see above. I think the flavor would do well in carrot cake. It like its flavor very much.

Honey, almost as much glucose and fructose. I report, you decide.

No sugar is a poison in and of itself. The PB beloved veggies have some sugars. It's a matter of how much, what kind, your metabolism. The other day I was working real hard and sagging, so I ate a spoonful of honey. Got me through. That 38% of a tablespoon that is fructose wasn't going to kill me. And it wouldn't effect my insulin level.